Making country fit for grouse shooting helps peatlands
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http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2015/jul/12/observer-letters Version 0 of 1. Behind your provocative and very misleading headline “Britain’s peatlands burn as gamekeepers create a land fit for grouse shooting” (News), there is a myriad of work – and untold stories – about huge peatland gains on moorland managed for grouse shooting. You chose not to mention the Committee for Climate Change’s acknowledgement that 95% of the country’s protected areas, such as the upland moors, are in favourable or recovering condition. Moorland Association members are justifiably proud of major contributions to hundreds of hectares of bare peat revegetation. We are now looking at ways to create wetter conditions and reintroduce mosses on 400,000 acres of deep peat and have shown that best-practice heather burning and peatland restoration can happen in tandem. Amanda Anderson Director, Moorland Association Lancaster The RSPB’s view of heather burning is unfortunately almost wholly inaccurate. Heather and grassland burning has been carried out for centuries to renew the sward for grazing purposes. In the process, it aids biodiversity by favouring a matrix of different ages in the heather and the evidence shows that heather burned in this way does indeed support a greater range of species. One of these species is the red grouse and shooters have for centuries taken advantage of the grouse produced in this way, but they are a by-product of an age-old grazing pattern, and not, as the RSPB implies, the result of some sort of newfangled eco-terrorism. William Parente Welbeck Estates Berriedale, Caithness Islamism is not the explanation Nick Cohen writes: “You’ll never understand why London’s East End returned politicians as grotesque as George Galloway or mayors as bent as Lutfur Rahman unless you know that Tower Hamlets is Jamaat-e-Islami’s British stronghold” (“Islamism prevails even as we suppress free speech”, Comment). Nonsense. Galloway was returned because the incumbent MP was in favour of the invasion of Iraq, contrary to the view of most of her electorate. Rahman was returned in part because of the way he had been treated by the local Labour party and because he came across as “old Labour”. Both candidates attracted many non-Bangladeshi votes. Dr John Rowe London E1 I was moved by Nick Cohen’s account of the Bangladeshi writer Avijit Roy, murdered by Islamists for his liberal beliefs, and the courage of his wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, in delivering the annual Voltaire lecture in London. He is absolutely right to compare the bravery of Bangladeshi intellectuals with the shameful capitulation of the western intelligentsia, who prefer to blame poverty and foreign policy rather than confront the fascist ideology that drives the terrorists. Stan Labovitch Windsor Is Cameron our Tsipras? Your editorial on Greece (Comment) says that, in the January election, Alexis Tsipras harnessed anger “to sweep to power”. Syriza won 36.3% of the vote. In May, the Tories achieved 36.9%. Using the same logic, it can be assumed that the Conservatives were swept to power and therefore Cameron should receive the same acclaim as that afforded to the “charismatic” Tsipras. Charles Foster Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire Labour and 60,000 refugees Tim Farron of the Lib Dems is one of the few senior politicians to urge the government to let in 60,000 non-EU refugees (“Farron calls for Britain to let in 60,000 migrants”, News). In Easterhouse, Glasgow, I know a number of asylum seekers from the Middle East. Only one has been granted asylum, although returning them means prison at best; at worst, execution. Yet they are usually intelligent people who would be taxpayers. Sixty thousand could be accommodated if spread over the UK. As a Labour party member, I hope all its MPs will welcome refugees. The Tories, of course, will agree with their spokesperson in the Lords, Lady Anelay, who offered sympathy while adding: “But let them understand that there will not be settlement here.” Bob Holman Glasgow Teaching skills are crucial, too I am a maths graduate and was in education for 36 years. Most of that was in further education and on many courses a teacher must be a specialist, but it is not true for all types of education (“We need maths specialists within a proper teacher training structure”, editorial). In primary education or for special needs, it is not only subject knowledge but also teaching skills that are the main way to give a good education. The current obsessions of the government in education are simplistic and often reflect a narrow view of how student progress can be achieved. All educators want high standards, but few believe this is only the result of specialist knowledge. How we teach is often the deciding factor. Mike Berkoff London N8 |